Lamp socket



Marchv4, 1924. V -13485364 J. CUTHBERT LAMP SOCKET Filed Dec. 4, 1916 Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

1:31' STAT 1,485,984f PTENTv OFFICE;

JOHN CUTHBnm', or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, Assrenon, BY MESNE AssIGNMEN'rs, 'ro

nconoMY rUsn AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILnmors, A Con.-

PORATION OF NEW YORK.

LAMP SOCKET.

Application filed December 4, 1916. Serial No. 135,050.

To aZZ whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN CUTHBERT, a citizen of the Ilnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamp Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lamp sockets and has especial reference to means for securing the mechanism thereof to the enclosing shell, or casing and for securing theilatter to a socket-supporting fixture.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved socket and attaching means, as hereinafter more fully explained.

Other, further and more specific objects of my invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the socket showing it attached to a socket-supporting fixture.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, central section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a broken-away part of the upper end of the shell and attaching member.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line V6-6 of Fisf. 2 before the attaching means is clamped tonothe fixture.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the clamp-operating ring turned to the proper degree to secure the shell to the fixture.

Fig. 7 is a preferred form of the fixture clamping device.

In all the views the same reference characters are employed to indicate similar parts.

The socket, shown in the drawings, is of the keyless type. It is arrangedV so that it may 'conveniently be attached to the conducting wires, without removing the enclosing shell, simply by. passing the wires into the open, lamp-engaging end from the socket attaching end, and coiling the wires around the shanks of the respective clamping screws and subsequently clamping the eyes thus formed, to the socket terminals. This may quickly be accomplished by introducing a screw driver into the' open end of the Socket and rotating the binding screws. Then the shell and enclosed parts may be attached as eficiently to the socketvthe threaded end of the fiXture. 'such a procedure, lincluding disassembling and reassembling of the socket parts, re-

supporting fiXturel by an improved means that does not require material rotation of the socket, after the4 wires are attached thereto.

When the shell of the socket is inseparably secured to the enclosed parts, and the socket is to be attached to the fixture, vafter lthe wires have been placed in the said fiX- the sockets sufiiciently to screw it home on Besides,

ture, it is disastrous'to the wires to' rotate f quires an unnecessarily, relatively long period of time, thus 'undesirably increasing the cost of installation.

- In' the structure, which I have disclosed ,in the accompanying drawin'gs, I reduce the cost of manufacture to the minimum by making the casing shell in one piece' and inseparably securing it to the enclosed parts and furthermore I have provided a socket that may be installed by the expenditure of the smallest possible time required to secure the conducting wires thereto and to vfixthe'socket upon the fixture.

In the embodiment illustrated 10 is a fixture, such as the threaded end ofa pipe or bracket, to which the socket is to be attached. Fixed -tothe end of the vp-ipe 10, is a threaded sleeve 1'1, the threaded end 12 being adapted for screw threaded association lwith the socket. Above the threads 12 is a shoulder 13v against which the outer end of lthe threaded nipple, or clamping sleeve 14, vabuts when it is in place.

The attaching sleeve or member 14, which is secured to or a part of the shell 15 of the socket, as shownv vbers 14a and 14b to be separated, one from `the other, to a greater distance th'an'their original diameter, as shownin Fig. 4. An unthreaded clamp-operating cam ring 20, having opposite inward depressions 21-421, is slipped 'over the me1nber14. The diameter of the ring` 20 is sufiiciently large to permit the clamps 14a and 14b of the member 14 to freely slip overvthe threaded end 12 of the nipple 11, in placing the socket in position'on the fixture, as the indentatlons 21-21, ofjthe ring 20, are then within the space provided by the cutaway side portions 17 and 18 of the member 14. When the cam ring 20 is rotated, about 90, so that the indentations 21-21 are'moved, from the positions shown in Fig. 5 to the positions shown in Fig. 6, they press inwardly the clamping members 14a and 14b so that the internal threads thereof make engagement with the external threads 12 of the nipple 11, thus holding the socket in place, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. In placing the socket on the fixture 10, the conducting wires are prepared and threaded thru the base, the ring 20 being freely rotatable over the members 14a and 14h, at which time the member 14 is slipped axially onto the threaded end of the nipple 11', then, by means of gas pliers, or the like, the cam ring 20 is rotated, about 90 degrees, when the projections 21-21, on opposite sides, will ride upon the cam portions of the members 14a and 14h, of larger diameter, thus pressing these members laterally into intimate contact with the threaded end of the nipple 11, after which a very slight rotation of the socket shell 15 will cause the upper ends of the member 14 to make intimate contact with the shoulder 13 of the fixture, thus quickly and effectually securing the socket firmly in place on the fixture.

The insulating base portion 22, upon which the terminal clamping screws 23 and 24 are mounted, is provided with tapered, axially-extending openings 25 and 26, through which to pass the conducting wires 27 and 28. The plate 29 is segmental in Shape and is held in place by screws 30 passing thru the insulating block, or base 22, and to which plate is secured the lamp-engaging screw-shell 31. The plate 29 is perforated, as at 32, in register with the perforation 25 thru which the Wire 27 is passed and the binding screw 23, which is capable of twistingtthe Wire around the shank, and subsequently clamping it in place, is preferably threaded in the plate 29, engages the wire when .rotated, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, which may be accomplished by inserting a screw driver thru the open end of the shell 31. Another plate 33 has an opening 34, which is in register with the opening 26 of the base member 22, thru which to thread the wire 28 for engagement with the terminal screw 24, whereby the screw 24 first coils the wire around its shank and subsequently clamps it to the plate 33, by operation of a screw driver inserted thru the shell 31.

Secured'under the plate33 is a spring v clip 35, which is held in place by a screw or rivet 36, insertable thru the base member 22. The spring clip 35 serves as a central contact for the socket. Overlying the screw shell 317 and located between the screw shell 31 and the outer shell or'casing 15 is an insulating shell 37. Theshell 37 extends over the screw-shell 31, and between the screwshell and the outer shell, or casing 15, and is secured in place, in association with the base portion 22, by means of the plates 29 and 33. The outer casing 15 is secured` to the base 22 and to the lining V37, by a coating 38' ofV cement or vglue, preferably such that ,may be hardened by heat, as liquid bakelite. The outer shell 15 is thus firmly cemented to the inner portions of the socket to hold them in place, and a-s my structure is such that the necessity for removing the shell 15 is no longer present, owing to the fact that the socket may be Wired by introduction of a screw driver into the open end thereof for manipulation of the terminal screws which have the quality of twisting the Wire around their shanks and then clamping it, it is not necessary to remove the shell, and the time required to fix the socket to the conducting wires and fixtures is thus materially reduced.

In Fig. 7 1 have shown the fixture clamping member 14 as an integral part of the shell 15 and the clamping ring 20 inseparable from said clamping members but freely rotatable thereon. The upper ends of the members 14a and 14b are expanded outwardly after the ring'20 is placedover the members. This permits the ring to freely rotate but prevents its removal.

It is of course manifest to persons skilled in the art that a socket made after the general plan in which a key or switch is included as a part of the structure may have its shell fixed to the enclosed parts in the same manner andmay be capable -of being connected to the socket-supporting fixture by the same means herein disclosed.

While 1 have herein shown a single embodiment of my invention, for the purpose of clear disclosure, it. will be manifest that many changes may be made in the configuration and disposition of the parts within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with an enclosing shell, of a lamp socket; an internally-threaded sleeve, or member secured to the shell, and circumferentially divided for clamping attachment to a fixture and a ring surrounding said clamping member, having an inwardly-projecting part to clamp the member on the fiXture when the ring is rotated on its support.

2. In combination with an enclosing shell of a i lamp socket; an internally-threaded sleeve, or member seoured to the shell having part of its periphery cut away and thus attenuated or divided thru the thin Wall thus provided, for clamping attachment to a fixture having an exterior threaded end, and a ring surrounding said member, having an inWardly-projecting part to be contained Within the cut-away space, to clamp the members on the fixture When the ring is rotated on its support.

3. A lamp socket structure comprising an insulating base; Wire terminals mounted therein; a lamp-engaging screW-shell, carried by the base; an insulating j acket, surrounding said screW-shell; a one-piece enclosing shell having a two-part, internallythreaded member for clamping attachment to a threaded fixture, and a rotatable clamping cam, surrounding said two-part member to force said members laterally into clamping relation With said fixtures.

V4. A lamp socket structure comprising an insulating base; Wire terminals mounted thereon; a lamp-engaging screw-s'hell carried by the base; an insulating jacket surrounding said soreW-shell; an enclosing shell having a plural clamping member, comprising an internally threaded sleeve di- Vided by Cutting away the wall of the sleeve in tangential planes to provide a contractible clamping member for attaohment to athreaded fixture, and a rotatable clamping member, having an internal projection normally resting' in the space produced by the cut-away portion of said clamping member, to force said clamping members into clamping relation with said fixture.

In testimony Whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subsoribing wit- MARY F. ALLEN. 

